-
Before Midnight -
Now on DVD and Blu-ray! Oz The Great And ... -
Now on DVD and Blu-ray-Promised Land -
Disney, Hitchcock, and Marilyn Flying Hi ... -
Reacher Coming to DVD and Blu-ray
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD-Django Unchain ...
John Ford's Favorite Film
Coming to Blu-ray and DVD-The Impossible
Now on DVD and Blu-ray-Hyde Park on Huds ...
MAKING FILM SCHOLARSHIP FUN
HOORAY FOR 1933—EIGHTY YEARS LATERON THE ROAD
Sam Riley plays Sal, an aspiring writer who is drawn into the orbit of a charismatic drifter named Dean (Garrett Hedlund). Dean is the kind of guy who attracts both men and women, even though he doesn’t treat them well—especially the women. He is also consumed by wanderlust, which leads the two men and their traveling companion (Kristen Stewart) on a series of adventures around the country and across the border in Mexico.
Salles tries to capture the immediacy and spontaneous nature of the book, using long takes and even allowing the camera to drift out of focus when a character moves about. Prominent actors (Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Viggo Mortensen, Terrence Howard) turn up at unexpected moments, playing characters our protagonists meet, only briefly, in their travels. But the movie’s real strength is in evoking the feel of the road in a now-vanished America. If there were an award for location scouting, along with production design, this film would be a prime candidate.
Whatever its vicissitudes, On the Road has one important asset: a great ending. The poignant finale to a vital relationship is beautifully staged and acted.
Unfortunately, I don’t think On the Road the movie will have nearly the impact of the book that inspired it. Perhaps, like many other literary milestones, it was never meant to be a film.
Email Updates
Monthly Archives
Most "Liked"
-
Man of Steellike0 -
This Is The Endlike0 -
The Real Lone Ranger—At Auctionlike0
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|  |
 |  |
2 Comments
j minkler | March 12, 2013 7:25 PM
I have been waiting for this movie forever as I loved the book years ago. Why can't we get it to the theater in Hawaii ? Even Netflix does not have it.
Amy | December 25, 2012 5:53 PM
Thanks for the review. I don't know if it's fair to say that the movie was never meant to be because it won't have the impact of the book. I think the movie does an excellent job of showing the positives and negatives of living life with abandon and experiencing things just for the sake of experience. I don't think the movie romanticizes what these young people did as much as the book. But, I think the major point that I got from it is to not be so afraid to go out there and live. When you do, you meet amazing people and learn about yourself in ways that you probably wouldn't otherwise. If that's the message that some people get from this movie, then I think that's a good thing.